What Is It A Whitetail, Or A Muley?
 

A Muletail Buck?

OL’s Hunting, Editor Andrew McKean, shot this northeastern Montana buck on the last day of the season. He assumed it was a tall, rangy mule deer, but is it actually a cross between a mule deer and a whitetail?
Photo Gallery by Andrew McKean . Uploaded on December 06, 2010




To read more go here --> http://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/ga...id=enews120710


What do you think?

It happens, right? So I don't see how it would be so surprising. Nice deer.

I read and article or saw a tv show (don't remember which) a few years ago about that being more common. I think whitetail bucks will breed mule deer does but mule deer bucks don't breed whitetail does or something like that. Pretty interesting.

It is a hybrid. Here on the plains of Colorado we have both types of deer and its not all that unusual to see them. The DOW here in CO says they are always bucks (males) and they are sterile.

nothing new about whats going on here...life will strive and the strongest will survive...pretty soon there wont be polar bears, as they are already breading with grizzly bears..same with the deer...wonder what the future will bring? how about a melk?

sorry i didnt read the entire story jr but its not unussual for mulies to have brow tines or no forks on the g2's.not too sure what else there is about it that makes it appear as a it may be a hybrid,althou that does happen.guess ill read the entire story when i wake up more haha.

Somewhat difficult from the pic to tell what it is. On first look, it does appear to be a mulie. A nice buck though.

I dont think its a hybrid or whatever. Just looks like a 3x3 mulie to me. I've seen lots of bucks like that and there is no whitetails where I live. I'm lookin at a buck who looks similar to him hanging in my living room right now. Body looks like your average mulie too.

You can deffinatly tell it a MuleDeer from the pic...What gives it away is that Tuff of Hair between the antlers the deer's ForeHead its Really dark, not to mention the head shape is alot different then a whitetail..But the antlers look like a whitetail but whos to say its a hybrid. I have heard of them Breeding with whitetail but like said above it looks like a 3x3 Mullie to me.

I guess for people who hunt for trophies this might be good news, but for people who hunt for meat this is not good at all. We have mule deer moving into Ohio, and I'm all for moving them right back out. Leave my tender, yummie whitetail alone!

For the record, as someone who hunts to stock my freezer, I don't appreciate those who hunt to decorate their walls.

If you read the entire article you'd know this is not a hybrid - 100% mule deer. it said the deer's testicles "were entirely metastasized, a hard, cancerous wad of tissue"...its not unusual for them to grow non-typical (for mule deer standards) horns when they lack testosterone

why dont you appreciate those that hunt for big deer to put on there wall? you hunt the way you like and let other people hunt the way they like. that would be like me saying i dont appreciate people that hunt to put food on the table. if i said that i would sound like a A-hole. me personally i hunt for both one doe for meat and a buck to put on the wall. i shot one buck that was a dink on accident but i dont go out to shot the first buck that comes out. i hunt to shoot big bucks thats what i like i wont shoot anything under 140 inches. that's just the way i like to hunt.

I want to see a mulie in ohio.You got to be kidding

Ouch:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...+deer+in+ohio#

It could be a hybrid or it might not be you will need a DNA test to prove it.

yes

How do you justify killing things you don't eat to the people trying to take away your rights to hunt? You're insulating your walls? I don't hunt bear because it's too greasy, I can't eat it. I justify hunting whitetail because I eat four of them a year. I can justify everything I kill beyond decorating my walls.

TO me it looks like a Mulie not a whitetail, the coat is still dark like one, I have seen a hybrid with a light brown body rack etc, the face was like a mulie and so was the butt....

It's more then likely a mulie.Alot of 3x3's antlers tend to go more forwad but the brow tines deffinately are muley.Colour of coat is mulie, face is mulie, so are the ears.The only thing I can't tell to confirm for is the tail and ass end, one can also sometimes tell by the hoofs.

From the picture, it looks like a mulie. Around here in SD, some mulies seem to have a few whitetail traits.

I vote for mulie. By the way, that link to some mule deer pics sure doesn't mean there are mulies in Ohio. I call bs on that one.

That's 100% Mulie no question. And it's not even a hybrid, it just didn't grow it's top fork. People will try and make an article out of anything. I've seen a lot of smaller mule deer bucks look just like that.

I also hunt for meat. And for the sheer joy I get from hunting. I don't care if others hunt for trophey's. I would hope they would at least donate the meat for others.
But I have to ask. What is wront with Mulie deer meat?

Nothing is wrong with mulie meat. The one I shot this year was fat and delicious!

Without question its a Mulie. 3 pt bucks often look like that when the front tine forks. If the back tine had forked it would look like a "normal" mulie. Why the attempt to make something of nothing....inexperience?

I hunt to decorate my walls and stock my freezer, however I would much rather shoot a trophy buck, I can buy meat at the grocery store. Every trophy on my wall I have ate.

One of the dumbest assumptions I have seen in quite a while from another hunter. You shouldn't assume that just because someone holds out for a big buck they aren't going to eat it. You know what they say about ASSuming. It really only makes an ass out of the assumer.

Oh, and for the record to stay on topic I too believe that buck is 100% mule deer. It isn't unusual for mule deer to grow racks that look like that. Bad gonads or not.